Capcom is finally remastering one of its best and most overlooked games of all time, Onimusha
Warlords.
This series, created by Mega Man mastermind Keiji Inafune, was huge back in the PlayStation
2 days.
Believe it or not, Onimusha was selling just as much, if not, more than Devil May Cry,
hence why we got four Onimusha titles in the span of five years.
But since the last entry in the series, 2006's Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, the franchise has
disappeared for some strange reason.
Capcom opted to instead invest time and resources on Resident Evil, which is understandable,
and Devil May Cry instead, completely tossing aside Onimusha's critical and commercial
success.
Onimusha Warlords was really the first great PS2 game consumers could buy.
The remaster is coming out on January 15 for all major modern platforms, and it'll feature
improved visuals, analog support, and a few other new neat features.
It's exciting to see the franchise back from the dead.
If you're not all too familiar with Onimusha, the best and most simple way to to describe
it is to basically call it Resident Evil with swords.
But granted, it's so much more than that and remains an original game series unlike
anything out there, even today.
The game centers on samurai Samanosuke Akechi and his friend, ninja Kaede.
The game switches between the two characters in important story moments.
You have to rescue Princess Yuki from the clutches of mysterious demons that have been
popping up in feudal Japan, where the game is set.
And so, you travel to Inabayma Castle and its surroundings, where most of the action
takes place.
It's basically the mansion in Resident Evil 1, a huge level filled with puzzles, locked
doors and levels, enemies to battle, and more.
Onimusha sports truly fantastic level design.
The way you progress through the game, finding more powerful weapons, keys and tools to unlock
areas, and the way the game introduces new and more powerful enemies is brilliant.
Remember, the game was made when Capcom was firing on all cylinders, when the studio was
at its peak.
Onimusha features metroidvania level designs, forcing you to constantly backtrack and look
for clues you otherwise might've missed on your first time exploring.
Every area is beautifully detailed and diverse, and the game's unique art design is a great
complement to the metroidvania style of gameplay.
We don't get many games set in feudal Japan, where you play as a samurai.
Granted we're now soon getting stuff like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghosts of Tsushima,
so the games industry is trending towards exploring this time setting.
But Onimusha was one of the first to do, and as a result, it's still highly original,
as I've mentioned.
There's a great dark atmosphere to the game.
It's moody, somber, and the soundtrack definitely helps in capturing that certain type of mood.
The way you level up in the game is also, once again, another original feature.
Main character Samanosuke has this gauntlet, granted by the twelve oni, which allows him
to absorb the souls of your enemies, which are depicted as floating red orbs.
You use these orbs to strengthen your truly awesome weapons.
In the first game you use three, a thunder, fire, and wind sword all with their own fighting
styles, strengths, and weaknesses.
The fire sword for example is the slowest one but the most powerful, while the wind
sword is weak but quick and nimble.
The enemy designs are also all diverse and gruesome looking.
Not only do you battle a wide variety of normal enemies, there are also a handful of tense,
memorable, and well designed boss battles as well.
I still remember some of these encounters, including a battle that takes place on the
rooftop of the main castle you're exploring.
The best thing I can say about Onimusha is that nearly every single aspect of the game
comes together brilliantly.
Everything works in harmony.
The pacing is fast and goes along well with the level design and emphasis on exploration.
The sword-based combat, which is much slower than Devil May Cry, requires strategic planning
when going up against the game's many great boss fights.
And while the actual story isn't anything to write home about, it's bolstered by the
atmosphere and art direction.
There's also an in-depth dungeon called the Dark Realm which is notorious for its
high difficulty.
Players have to battle waves after waves of increasingly difficult enemies in order to
acquire a powerful weapon.
It's totally optional, but also totally worth the extra effort.
Capcom followed the first Onimusha up with four sequels.
Onimusha 3 is a highlight in my opinion, featuring time travel, more ambitious design, and even
renown actor Jean Reno as one of the main playable characters.
Capcom was able to expand the franchise's interesting mythology with the sequels, and
they all feel different despite retaining much of what made the first game so great.
It'd be nice to see the other three titles get a remaster as well, which I'm sure we
will if Onimusha Warlords does well enough.
It's great to see a fantastic dormant series make a return, and here's hoping we might
finally get a new Onimusha game in the near future.
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